Blood Ties by Sam Hayes

Blood Ties by Sam Hayes is a gritty tale of child abduction, prostitution, child abuse, past traumas, family secrets and betrayals. Multiple narrators blend in the story and from different timelines. Some of the raw human emotions in this domestic suspense novel will cut you like a knife, making you feel the pain each character is experiencing.

The book grabs me from the start. A woman named Cheyl goes into a supermarker to buy a cake, leaving her baby sleeping in her car. When she returns to her car, her baby is gone.

Fast forward 13 years. Solicitor Robert Knight’s stepdaughter Ruby wins a place at a prestigious London school for the gifted. What puzzles him is his wife Erin’s reluctance  to let Ruby go.  Troubled by Erin’s growing evasiveness, Robert begins to suspect she has something to hide. When he stumbles on mysterious letters from a man named Baxter, he discovers she has been lying to him. He pays Baxter a visit and learns shocking secret about his wife’s past, a secret that threatens to destroy everything.

I was expecting a very sad ending but I was wrong. The author turns the ending into a very happy one.  I feel disappointed by the ending as it means the betrayal and lies continue. I guess everyone has his own opinions. There are some who think the ending is brilliant.